Let's Just Take It Slow
by xoxonessie
Summary: Set sometime in the  near  future. You decide when pleases you. This one-shot was inspired by Lady Antebellum's beautiful "Just a Kiss". TZ, obvioulsy.


_Disclaimer: If I owned NCIS, this would probably have happened already, But since it obviously hasn't, I'll let you draw your own conclusions._

Set sometime in the (near) future. You decide when pleases you. This one-shot was inspired by Lady Antebellum's beautiful "Just a Kiss" and written during a long train ride. First try at fluff ever and it's not my best work.

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><p><em>Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight<br>Just a touch in the fire burning so bright  
>And I don't want to mess this thing up<br>I don't want to push too far  
>Just a shot in the dark that you just might<br>Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life  
>So baby I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight.<em>_  
><em>  
><em>Lady Antebellum – Just a Kiss<em>

The day has already well started when she wakes up. The sun pierces through the white drapes of her bedroom window, casting dancing golden forms on the wall behind the bed and it takes her a few seconds to realize that the warm breath she feels on the back of her neck has nothing to do with the soft rays of sunshine of that beautiful spring morning. His breath tickles the back of her neck and she cannot help the smile that makes its way to her lips as a shiver runs down her spine. She can feel his sleeping body behind her, not quite touching her but close enough that she can feel the heat radiating from it and hear the almost inaudible snoring that escapes the back of his throat every time he takes a new breath. She rolls her eyes in disbelief when she thinks back to all the times he has teased her about her own snoring. She makes a silent vow to herself to not let that slide ever again.

She remains still on her side of the bed for fear to wake him up and make the moment go away. She focuses on the quiet, regular rhythm of his breathing and on how comfortable his weight feels next to her and she realizes quite surprisingly that while it should most certainly bother her a little bit, it does not. Ziva has never been one to linger in bed for too long, she is usually restless from the first hours of dawn and has always been used to getting up as soon as her eyes are open; lying in bed just because she can was never her thing. Yet, on this particular morning, she feels so at peace and so relaxed that she thinks she wouldn't mind changing her habits after all.

She senses a change in his breathing and she knows he's awake. She smiles to herself as she feels how cautious he is not to move. She can feel his gaze on the back of her head as one of his hand starts playing with a strand of her hair and it makes her heart beat in a weird yet very pleasant way in her chest. She suddenly feels very alive as if her whole body, mind and soul were waking up from a long sleep all together and the overwhelming sensation leaves her a little breathless.

Tony must have felt it because he starts to wriggle a little behind her and he snuggles a little closer, as if to let her know for sure that he's fully awake. She does not give in though and remains with her back turned to him for a little longer, she is just teasing him now and he knows it. She is not surprised when she feels his nose brushing the side of her ear and his lips laying butterfly kisses on the soft, sensitive skin just below her earlobe.

She cannot help the giggle that leaves her mouth when the tickling sensation of his light kisses becomes unbearable. She shrugs his face away and turns around to face him, still laughing. He grins at her in victory as she shifts a little on the mattress so that she is now completely lying on her back. He puts his arms on either sides of her to support his weight and looks down at her, his green eyes boring onto her chocolate ones.

She wants to say something to make the annoyingly confident grin go away, but there is something else in his smile that stops her, some sort of adoration and a sweetness that she has never seen before. His eyes stare at her as if she is the most precious thing they have ever been given the chance to see. She feels warmth invading her, hypnotizing her, numbing her senses, and suddenly, it gets very hard to breathe. And that is when she finally realizes what Love really feels like.

He knows he's been staring for a little too long now, but she looks so beautiful in the morning light that he can't take his eyes of off her. Her hair is sprayed on the pillow underneath her, messy and tangled and he just wants to pass his hand through it to smooth it a little. Her brown eyes are still a little sleepy but they're shining with life and curiosity. She's smiling at him, biting her lower lip as she often does and he finds it so terribly sexy that he just wants to give up and kiss her senseless.

She looks so vulnerable under him at that moment, and definitely a little confused – he should really stop staring – and he realizes how far they have come since the day she walked into the bullpen and into his life. Saying that their relationship has had ups and downs would be an understatement. He doesn't think he's ever known two people capable of having so high ups and so low downs as them. They had some memorable fights, some that almost look ridiculous now, others that he wishes he could forget. They had some great moments too, secrets have been shared and confessions have been made. He had never opened up so much to anyone before her met her. She's always had that strange ability to read him like an open book and he's never been able to lie to her in spite of his best efforts. She just gets him in a way nobody else does. They've never really needed actual words to understand each other, their eyes speaking for them the words they couldn't find. He can't explain it. It's just something they have.

She's his rock, his anchor. She keeps him grounded when he feels like he's going crazy, she makes his world right again when things go awfully wrong, she has faith in him when he himself doesn't. She loves him for who he is, good and bad. With her by his side, he feels invincible.

He knows they have decided to take it slow (well, she had suggested it and he had argued that 7 years of foreplay had probably been slow enough) and that it's the reasonable thing to do if they want to do it right.

He also knows they still have a lot to figure out before they can really jump into this whole new world and that it won't be an easy road but it feels so right at the moment, falling asleep and waking up with her in his arms, being able to touch her, to kiss her and to be the one to make her happy that he's willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. He doesn't want to mess up this time and when her hand comes up to cup his cheek, softly stroking the light stubble he has not bothered to shave, he knows for a fact that he won't ever take the risk.

"What are you thinking about?"

He tries to think of something funny or anything that would most likely make her roll her eyes at him – because he really loves it when she does that - but after a few seconds of reflection, he settles for honesty.

"You."

She looks surprised and confused and he could swear she's blushing a little. Adorable has never been the first word to come to his mind when thinking about Ziva David. Yet at that precise moment, he can't find a better term. _Adorable_. Of course he knows better than to tell her that, she would hate it.

He also knows better than to tell her what it was he was really thinking about. That probably doesn't fall into the "taking it slow" category.

He can see that she's trying to compose herself and ignore the wave of emotion that has just washed over her. She drops her gaze and focuses on her fingers drawing random patterns on his chest.

"It looks serious."

Yup. Definitely going back to keeping it light and slow then.

"It is." She looks up and he knows he's caught her attention again and the slightly annoyed look on her face tells him that he'd better develop on the subject.

"It's _very_ serious, in fact." He leans a little closer, resting his weight on his elbows now so that his face is only inches away from hers. "I was wondering what I wanted for breakfast."

"And what does it have to do with me?" She joins her hands on the back of his neck and the tone in her voice is both curious and amused, because she knows _exactly_ what this has to do with her.

He wriggles his eyebrows at her suggestively, leaning even closer to whisper just above her lips.

"I'll give you 3 guesses."

She is still laughing when he closes the space between them and captures her lips in a loving kiss.


End file.
